An 'UpLifting' Conversation
by Fannin
Summary: Kakashi and Iruka meet on a ski lift. This is their fluff conversation. The story was written for fun, I don't usually like AU but it's not really a big deal in this One Shot. KakashiIruka pairing. Rated K.


**Usual Bla-Bla Disclaimer:** I secretly own Kakashi. He's strapped to my bed.

**Author Note: **I don't normally do AU, but I'm on vacation up in Utah and I was sitting on the ski lift thinking about KakaIru -because I'm a dork like that- and I wondered what their ski lift conversation would be like. So, I bent my own rules and went ahead and wrote it anyway. Here you go! One shot, mostly fluff for fun. Flames will be used to heat up hot chocolate, good reviews will be worshiped (as usual).

---

**An 'Up-Lifting' Conversation**

Snow drifted lazily to the mountain slopes below. It was a cold day to be skiing, temperature bouncing around one degree Fahrenheit, but dedicated slope runners bundled up tightly and planned to take the more advanced runs to keep their temperature up. This day was a fortunate day for thrill-seekers. The frigid air kept novice tourists back at the condos, and families with small children didn't dare step outside into the snowy weather.

That meant that the lift lines were short and quick, filled with interesting in-town skiers that wanted nothing more than to start zooming down the mountain side. There was no dawdling at the chairs, requesting that they slow down so they could get situated before take off, no one slipped and brought the entire lift to a stop, it was just smooth, flowing action.

"Double."

The ski lift operator nodded and gestured for the pair of skiers to slide forward into the primary line to await the chair.

"Double," the snowboarder said. She and her friend were set into line beside one another.

The chairs of Three Kings Lift came and went, whisking the pairs up to the top of the run. Some were going for their first warm-up run down the bunny slope, others wasted no time and turned left to the stunt slopes. A half-pipe and a few other jumps were set up, and that was where most snowboarders and a few skiers ended up.

This kind of absolutely perfect rhythm was something that Iruka reveled in. It was just the kind of smooth action that occurred on a cold day. The weather shut down ski-school that day, so he was going to enjoy his rare time off from screaming and crashing children. Of course, he loved his job, but there was nothing like taking a few runs on his own.

He scooted forward in the second line, standing alone behind another pair of skiers. They were an odd couple; the female looked too tall to be paired with the male, and their conversation seemed awkward but never forced. It was an interesting spectacle, Iruka noted, but their turn quickly came and they slipped forward to be paired onto the lift.

Iruka figured he would have to ride the Three Kings alone, which was pretty disappointing since he enjoyed the conversations with strangers. It would be a short, five-minute exchange of life details and then you would never see the person again in your life. "Single," he said to the operator, lifting one finger into the air. He slid forward on his skis and stood in line.

"Single."

Iruka blinked. He could have sworn everyone in the entire line was set up with a partner. He looked over his shoulder to see a snowboarder slide into position next to him. He was tall and wore a neck warmer tucked up around his goggles so his face couldn't be seen. This particular boarder didn't wear a helmet. Either he didn't care about cracking his head against a tree or he was just that good -or stupid, as Iruka might have mentioned. However, it wasn't the fact that he didn't wear a helmet that caught his eye; it was the shocking tuft of unruly silver hair that had a tendency to flop to one side and collect the lazy, drifting snowflakes.

And then he was gone.

Iruka looked around quickly, wondering what the hell had happened. That's when he noticed that the snowboarder had scooted forward, and was now standing in front of an oncoming chair. "Hey! W-wait a minute!" He quickly shot forward and made it just in time for the chair to smack behind his knees and force him to plop down. The chair bounced and shifted with the harsh motion, but as they were lifted, it evened out to a calm pace.

He let out a sigh of relief and slumped back against the metal bars that constituted backing for the lift. Iruka didn't quite know why he had put so much effort into trying to catch the chair. It would have been rather embarrassing if he had gotten tripped up and fell. He decided it had to have been his desire to keep the natural flow of the day going, each chair taking up a pair of skiers rather than just one on his or her own.

The ski-instructor looked over to his current partner. The man was looking off into the aspen trees that lined the Three Kings path on either side. He didn't seem like the sociable type; the snowboarder didn't even bother to look Iruka's way. The instructor sighed again, this time out of near dismay, but he wouldn't let this ruin his pattern.

"So where you from?" Iruka tried to start conversation. It was the usual opening between lift riders. Names would only be exchanged if they were actually interested in continuing conversation further after the opening statements.

The silver-haired man slowly looked over to Iruka, and paused, as if he had just realized someone was sitting next to him. And what's more, this man who had suddenly appeared next to him on a ski lift, now dangling twenty yards above the ground, was talking to him. More like asking him a question.

Iruka grew nervous at the unreadable look, but waited patiently for a response. In case the snow had dampened his question, he repeated it. "Where you from?"

This redundancy seemed to confirm something with the man, and he looked forward to where the lift was taking them. "Town."

And that was it. No returned question of 'And where are _you_ from', no second glance, not even an effort to ask a question outside of the normal course of action. Evidently, the snowboarder was not educated in ski lift culture. Iruka tried to save the conversation, "Oh yeah? Me too. Only a ten minute drive here, actually."

Iruka waited for the man to take the obvious opening. However, apparently, the man was not interested in divulging the simple fact of how long it took for him to get to the park. This stranger had thrown him off course already, and it was still his first run of the day. Only god knew what else could go wrong on his one day off.

Determination swelled up inside of Iruka. He would not let this happen. "What's your name?" There, he asked it. If they could get on a first name basis, they could keep talking for the rest of the five minutes, and his day would be saved.

The man was silent, swinging his board to one side and slipping his free boot under it to take some of the weight. Iruka thought he could see a short look of contemplation, and then the man spoke. "Kakashi." Kakashi's eye -for one of them was covered by a headband- switched over to Iruka expectantly.

Ok, so it wasn't a verbal question, but at least he opened up a line of communication. "Iruka." He held out a hand for his ski lift partner to take. It was left dangling. Perhaps that was a bit too quick. He saved the motion by fiddling with his poles.

"You're an instructor?"

Iruka quickly looked up from his ski poles and looked over. Kakashi was watching him. "Uh," Iruka looked down at his jacket. He was wearing the park's red uniform with the embroidered leaf logo with the word 'Instructor' under it. Oh, so that's how he knew. Iruka laughed lightly. "Yeah, I'm in charge of the younger groups."

"Mm," Kakashi said with a nod and then looked away nearly disinterested.

The instructor didn't know what was worse, when Kakashi was looking at him or when he _wasn't_ looking at him. He quickly decided that the silence was unnerving. "What's your job?"

"Odd ball things," the man responded. Kakashi shifted his weight slightly, making the dangling chair sway gently side to side.

Iruka gulped, looking downward at the fluffy snow beneath him. He'd never felt nervous on a lift before… "What kind of odd ball, things? If you don't mind me asking, that is."

"Why are you on this lift?"

Iruka's eyes widened slightly at such an abrupt question. Was he really annoying the man that much? He chanced a sideways glance away from the ground below them. He quickly looked back, not bearing to make eye contact with Kakashi. Iruka vaguely wondered how much it would hurt if he actually jumped off the lift…

"I'm going to be running the half-pipe," the man further explained his question.

This offering of information changed Iruka's view point and he visibly relaxed. So he wasn't annoyed, he just wasn't good at talking to people. He laughed again, a slight blush in his cheeks at his own uncalled for nervousness. "Oh, I'm just going to do a quick warm up and then take a connecting lift to the upper mountain." He smiled at Kakashi.

The man looked away.

Iruka looked down at his ski poles and then his uniform, suddenly finding the park instructor logo very fascinating. After a moment of silence, his mind began to drift towards the children associated with that logo. He wondered how his youngest was doing, and with that thought, he blurted out the question, "Do you like kids?" Iruka flinched at how random this question must have seemed to Kakashi.

The snowboarder simply snorted and shifted so he could pocket his hands. "Well, I've got three."

For some reason beyond his own comprehension, Iruka's heart suddenly fell, and with that went the spark in his dark-brown eyes. "Oh yeah?" he murmured. "How old are they?"

"Twelve."

Iruka blinked. "Twelve? All three? That's awfully old for someone your age."

This made Kakashi look over curiously, and then something registered. "Oh _god_ no they're not _mine_." He shook his head quickly and laughed at the thought of having his own children. "I'm just showing them the ropes is all. I wouldn't dare. Women are too much of a hassle on their own, let alone adding kids."

Iruka brightened at the news, silently celebrating some victory he wasn't quite sure that existed. He hid his very small smile by looking towards the outer lift path.

The aspen trees cleared away to expose both runs on either side. Their attention automatically shifted to the left where a couple of younger snowboarders slipped down the side of the half pipe. They were shot into the air on one side. The leading teenager grabbed the front of his board before landing and sliding to the second side.

"They're pretty good," Iruka said. "I did snowboarding a few times before, but I kept landing on my knees too much."

Laughter erupted from beside him and Iruka blushed, though didn't make any other sign of his embarrassment. That had been a silly thing to say in front of Kakashi, he knew it.

"It happens a lot." A grin formed in Kakashi's visible eye.

This gesture made Iruka laugh lightly as well, and his grip on his poles relaxed. "Haha, yeah…" He watched another flip. This time the kid had grabbed the center of his board and twisted once before landing. "So can you do all of that?"

Kakashi shrugged. "Can you?"

Iruka grinned. "I can do the ramps and the big jumps with the skis."

"Impressive."

The instructor didn't know if that was true or if the man was just trying to be polite towards him. Either way, he just took it as it was given to him. "Thanks. Actually, I think I might take that run some time today."

"That would be an interesting sight to behold," Kakashi said with a challenging air of sarcasm.

This made Iruka perk up and stare at the snowboarder. "So you think I can't do it? Is that what you just said?"

The man shifted to the side as a tall black pole passed them with the yellow sign of 'prepare to unload'. "Oh, I never said that. I just said it would be a spectacle."

Iruka could see a smirk form under the mask. His eyes narrowed at him, though he had gained a little grin of his own. He too shifted to the edge of the chair. "Just because I _look_ like a goody-goody ski school instructor doesn't mean that I don't have a few stunts of my own."

The chair rattled and swung as it was taken into the curving process, and both men stood up and slid down the short slope away from the lift. Kakashi shifted out of the way to the left, stopping to strap his foot into the board. Iruka had taken this opportunity to follow. "Well then," the silver-haired man stood up to his full height and placed his hands on his hips as he looked down at Iruka. "I'll just have to catch you some other time and see what you can do, since you're going to be taking the upper lift."

Iruka opened his mouth to say something in response until he realized that that _had_ been his plan. He shook his head quickly. "If I loose track of you now, you'll be gone forever. I'll take your challenge now."

Kakashi grinned and jumped, quickly starting off down the mountain. He shouted back, "I won't wait up!"

Iruka gave a quick push with his poles and ducked down to catch up. He smiled.

Perhaps for the rest of the day he could say-

"Double."


End file.
